Scrap or restructure NNPC now, PDP chieftain urges FG

People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Chieftain in Delta State, Chief Sunny Onuesoke, has called for the scrapping or restructuring of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and other related agencies if they must function efficiently.

Onuesoke, in a statement made available to TribuneOnline in Warri on Thursday, advised the Federal Government to completely dissolve the NNPC and also privatise all the commercial undertakings of the agency.

He described the NNPC as a business enterprise and so the government lacks the credibility and capacity to profitably run a business enterprise.

The social critic further described as a shame that in spite of Nigeria having four refineries controlled by NNPC, none of them is producing fuel either for internal consumption or exportation for commercial gains.

The former governorship aspirant, who wondered why Nigeria government must continue to retain a corporation that is not productive, argued that the corporation owed Nigerians an explanation on the reasons behind the serial losses over the years.

“Nigeria has four refineries and none is refining crude oil. Government still pays a huge sum on importing finished oil products with the huge subsidy.

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“NNPC and her other subsidiaries are responsible for almost 15 per cent of the Federal Government’s yearly salaries and wages annually. There is no need for NNPC to exist if our refineries are not working.

“The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) recorded losses in the region of N551.46b from January 2015 to December 2018.

“Details of financial records published on the company’s website revealed that the national oil company repeatedly failed to meet projected profits as its subsidiaries, particularly refineries, running cost at the headquarters and other arms left whopping deficits.

“The corporation recorded N267.14b loss in 2015. The figure stood at N197b in 2016. In 2017, data from its financial statements showed N82b in operational losses, while a deficit of N5.46b was posted for January and August in 2018.

“While the company has excluded key details such as taxes and figures from the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Ltd, it has continually failed to perform when compared to other national oil companies in Africa and other parts of the world,” he noted.

Onuesoke, therefore, urged the current administration to conduct proper research and plan an all-inclusive strategy that would address the continuous losses from the un profiting corporation.

Insisting that the FG needs to take its hands off the business, Onuesoke said “We should make the NNPC a private business and government should remove its hands.

“There is so much interference in the NNPC by the government and other people are making money from the business. Why is our case different?

“Government failed with NITEL until it was unbundled. But the private sector came in and made their money,” he enthused.

He called on Nigerians to have a conversation on the topical issue if they want to maintain, scrap or restructure NNPC.